The future of workspace design

Is it any surprise that people are looking for more inspiring interiors within the workplace?

If that wasn’t apparent pre-CoVID-19, it sure is at the forefront of commercial workspace design post-pandemic.

After months of working from home, where the lines between personal and work space merged, the expectation of what a workspace should look like has fundamentally changed. The process of moving away from dull, drab, cubicle-filled office spaces has been accelerated by the CoVID-19 pandemic, and people are looking towards a more open plan mind-set with agile spaces to suit their needs and give employees plenty of room to breathe. Employees are seeking more social interaction to help cultivate skills, collaborate & learn; something which cannot be matched by working from home.

It was very evident at this year’s Workspace Design Show that there is a big shift in the mentality towards the office environment.

Now more than ever there is an increased focus on the ‘office experience’. People crave rich engaging spaces that give them the freedom to thrive and excel in their work. A lot of the conversations we had at the Workspace Design Show were centred around this concept.

To future-proof workspaces, designers need to design spaces that are based predominantly around an open floor-plan, which is adaptable and can be easily reconfigured to suit a wide variety of different working styles. There is also a heightened focus on the need for adaptable, multi-purpose furniture, appliances and finishes.

The next generation of talent are making their career decisions based around a company’s values, which can evidently be seen in how the company treats their staff and designs their working environment.

How do you solve a problem like a boring office space?
– at Amron, it’s solved by listening.

At Amron Architectural, we’re lucky to work with such a broad spectrum of people across the industry. We have placed ourselves in the best position that enables us to offer not only our products but also our expert advice. We believe that encouraging open and honest conversations is the way forward; the majority of our inspiration for new products & solutions comes from these discussions with clients.

We have recognised there are endless innovative ways in which our meshes can be utilised other than the traditional applications, such as car radiator grilles, and our product offering has grown exponentially in recent years. The wide variety of meshes and chains that are available and the variety of diverse finishes mean that our customers can design creative environments that are stimulating and sustainable.

With the popularity of open plan living & working on the up, we are seeing a rise in demand for our woven & expanded meshes being used as partitioning, keeping the airflow but also giving a feeling of division to areas where privacy is needed. We are also supplying more delicate meshes that are laminated in glass and being used in furniture or as room dividers to build transparent meeting rooms.

Mesh is also becoming the ceiling material of choice for commercial interiors, in keeping with the industrial style that’s trendy right now. It’s brilliant for keeping good airflow and making a feature of the ceiling space – particularly with some impressive powder coating finishes now available to us. You can really make a statement.

Aluminium meshes, such as our AC500 cloud ceiling system, are ideal for creating a lightweight but durable ceiling structure.

At Amron Architectural, we’re proud to offer a wide range of innovative products, and the wealth of technical knowledge that our team have within the industry allows us to react quickly to trends and continue to creatively fulfil design briefs.

We have built an exceptional, dedicated and personable team behind the brand that are passionate about what they do and how they do it – it’s not just luck that Amron has had exponential growth over the last couple of years, it’s down to the hard work & devotion of the whole team.

The workplace of the future is going to centre around collaboration, with break-out areas replacing board rooms and flexible layouts permitting multiple configurations.

With companies no longer requiring all employees to work from the office five days a week, ‘hot desk’ plans will replace dedicated individual desks, and smart technology choices will give options to add more flexibility to an employee’s working day.

Meetings over video calling platforms, which have been around for years in more rudimentary forms and which were essential to keep a business running while teams were in lockdown, are now more commonly used and are being integrated more effectively into flexible working arrangements. Increased internet speeds and free video calling platforms mean that the barrier to entry is now virtually nil, and workspaces with dedicated facilities for remote and office-based employees to collaborate in real-time are becoming ever more popular. Video conference calling technology, larger screens that teams can use for meetings, and portable laptops that enable employees to perform their role from anywhere are all essential to future ways of working.

The opportunities that these working practices bring for designing inspiring, architecturally interesting and sustainable workspaces are exciting, and for us, the future can’t come soon enough.

Amron Architectural are members of the FIS, a community for businesses and people in the finishes and interiors sector.

You can connect with Jonathan Reed on LinkedIn, Anthony Millington on LinkedIn and Shannon Stewart on LinkedIn, and find out more about Amron Architectural and their wide range of mesh-based automotive, architectural and interior workspace design solutions by visiting their website: www.amronarchitectural.co.uk